Neuroendocrine Correlates of PTSD Before and After Treatment

ID Number 05-0930

Veterans with PTSD from combat or other service-related traumatic experiences are eligible to participate in this treatment study, which offers 10 sessions of therapy. Although trauma is the main cause of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), many combat-exposed veterans do not develop the disorder. This observation has led to a search for biological and psychological risk factors that increase the probability of developing PTSD following trauma exposure.

The goal of this study is to examine biological and psychological changes in veterans with PTSD who are receiving treatment. Veterans with PTSD from combat or other service-related traumatic experiences are eligible to participate in this treatment study, using Prolonged Exposure (PE) or Minimal Attention (MA). If you are interested in participating in this study, you should know what the steps are in participation:

A comprehensive evaluation to identify the source of your PTSD symptoms

Collection of blood and urine samples so that we can measure before-treatment levels of these biological variables

Assignment to 10 weekly sessions of prolonged exposure with a trained psychologist, or to the control condition, called minimal attention (MA)

If you are in the MA group, you will have 10 weekly phone calls with a trained psychologist to talk about your symptoms

The control condition is necessary to be able to tell that the PE resulted in symptom change, rather than weekly contact with a psychologist

After treatment, you will repeat all of the biological and psychological assessments

You will be compensated for your time and travel up to $225, and you will not be charged for the prolonged exposure treatment.

Please call Nikita Agrawal at 718-741-4000 x5183 if you are interested in participating or have any questions.